


The Next Generation

by Xadhoom



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: F/M, Next Generation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2018-12-30 13:37:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12109878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xadhoom/pseuds/Xadhoom





	1. Journey's Start

The dark-haired girl gulped, almost having to consciously keep herself on her feet. "Who knew a door could be so menacing?" muttered the preteen. She shook her head, hoping the physical gesture would work as well as the metaphorical one.

Hesitantly, she then raised her hand to the door-handle. The door opened, and drew back. Inside, she saw a lab-assistant - the spitting image of a stereotypical scientist with her glasses and labcoat.

"Ah, hello, Opal," the blonde greeted with a soft smile, moving aside and gesturing inside. "Come on in, everything's ready."

The preteen walked forward, the Bayleef traipsing leisurely behind her as she walked through the laboratory.

On the far end of the room was the resident doctor in charge of the laboratory - hair a coal-black shade tinged with brown and blue, garbed in a lab coat, and a purple sweater with jeans underneath.

The woman stood at a considerable height over the girl, a smile on her face and gaze fixed on the other.

Behind her, there was a table that was empty except for the round red device.

"Welcome," greeted the woman, her tone formal. The green-eyed child smiled back, and sighed almost inaudibly.

"Yes, we were surprised and a bit uncomfortable to see that you'd volunteered," admitted Crystal, "but we know that you can probably handle most of what the job requires. To fill you in, you'll basically be conducting field research into evolutionary tendencies," informed the woman.

The girl quirked an eyebrow, face set in a mask of uncertain curiosity.

"Recently, we got a few reports from around Kanto and Johto that said that Pokemon previously believed to be fully evolved," the doctor went on, "like the Magcargo and Golduck species, have evolved again."

Opal gave a grin. "That's where we come in, right? We're gonna go check this stuff out, right?"

"Right," confirmed Crystal, returning a smile. "Your assignment involves visiting people around Johto, and finding out as much as you can about these Pokemon and how they evolved."

"Awright," she gave a thumbs-up, eyes bright with excitement. The ebony-haired child looked to the Bayleef, who returned a vigorous nod. Then she looked up at her mother. "Where's the first place?"

"The Pokedex already has the places listed," said Crys as she moved to pick the Pokedex up off the table, "and they've been contacted to let them know I was sending you to inspect the Pokemon."

A note of clear dissatisfaction showed on Opal's face. "I don't want you to help me just because you're my mom."

"I know," responded Crystal, a knowing smile on her face. "I assure you, I'll be trying to make this as straight-forward as possible regardless of who I was assigning the task to."

It actually made her feel a bit more at ease, though she wasn't all convinced her Mom was telling her the truth here, but she preferred thinking that to thinking the alternative, that she was just humoring her here.

The woman moved to pick the round device off the table, and held it out to her. The preteen eagerly accepted the Pokedex, holding it up to admire and study with a look of awe on her face.

Quickly composing herself, Opal put the device into her pocket, then bowed. "I promise I won't disappoint you."

Crystal gave her a soft ruffle of the hair. "I know you won't," assured the woman. "That's not going to happen no matter how this goes."

Now smiling, the girl went outside and on her merry way with the Bayleef, closing the door behind her.

Resisting the urge to giggle triumphantly as well as she was able - just a few snorty snickers - she fished it out of her pocket. With a quick glance, she spotted the button (a rectangular one, on the top of the disc) and gave it a click. It took her but a moment to find the note among the row of icons, and a moment to identify its interface as a touch-screen.

The blank note expanded to fill the whole page, and text had appeared.

 _"A Flareon in Olivine, a Linoone here in Violet, a Tentacruel in Cherrygrove, a Rapidash in Cerulean, a Seaking in Cianwood,"_  she skimmed the list.

"Cool," spoke the girl, looking to the Bayleef. The excitement on the Pokemon's face was unmissable.

"Let's move," the girl broke into a run, the Pokemon following suit.

Elsewhere, over in the neighbouring region, another youth was spending his time on a different activity.

South of Pallet, on the island village of Cinnabar, in the arena hall of the local Pokemon Gym, a young lad was at present. With him at his end of the place were three small Pokemon - a turtle with blue skin, and a green-skinned quadruped with a bud growing from its back, and a lizard with orange skin and a tail lit on fire. All three were unsteady on their feet, and weary unease showed on their faces.

A Nidoqueen stood a short distance ahead of the trio, and further away behind the dual-typed lizard were her trainer - a middle-aged woman with brown hair, garbed in a pair of jeans and a blue hoodie. She was relaxed in her stance, fingers tucked into her pants-pockets.

"Ready to give up yet?" called the Gym Leader, tone light and teasing.

"Never!" the boy returned, shooting her a defiant glare. The three Pokemon straightened up in their stances... or as much as they now could. Bulbasaur just stood up straight. Charmander shot her trainer a half-lidded eyes look that asked, 'what did I ever do to you?'

"Well spoken," voiced Blue to Violet, an iota of pride in her eyes. "Here's your lesson number seven: Being persistent doesn't mean a thing if you don't have the strength to win. Nidory, Power-Up Punch Squirtle!"

The violet lizard charged forward, swinging her fist into the grimacing chelonian's shell in the moment after. There was a brief note of pain in the dark-haired boy's eyes, while the small turtle practically flew into the back wall.

Violet sighed. "Okay, now I give up," relief showed on the Charmander's face. Almost by contrast, the Bulbasaur looked disappointed. The human child turned around, walking hurriedly toward the battered Pokemon.

He crouched down, gently placing his hand on its forehead. The water-type looked woozily at him, with an off-kilter smile.


	2. Enter Entei

Without much hesitation, the dark-haired preteen knocked on the door, then waited a moment. A tall woman in informal brown garments opened the door. Quickly noticing Opal, she shot her a displeased glare.

"Whadda ya want, kid?" grumbled the blonde. If this kid was gonna interrupt her during her day off, she damn well better have a good reason.

"I'm the one Professor Crystal sent about the Flareon that evolved," Opal informed her flatly, unsure that starting here was a good idea after all.

Susan looked unconvinced, but said, "Yeah, whatever," and stepped aside, gesturing to the inside of the house. Returning the gesture with a relieved smile, Opal began a leisurely trot in.

"He's out in the back yard, so you can probably do whatever," added Susan, peevishly.

Excitement welled up in her as she made her way through the entrance hall and the door at its end. She almost sprinted through the living room and out the open door.

There, contentedly napping on the grass in the shade from a tall bush, lay a beast. Opal's eyes took in the sight of the creature - the brown fur, the grey spikes growing from its back, the bands on its front legs, the mask on its face and its closed eyes. It reminded her of Bayleef.

Fishing out the round device from her pocket, she held it out to the sleeping Pokemon. With a click, the CPU of the device whirred. On the screen, a three-dimensional image appeared. Above the image, a box read 'Entei' and below it, another larger box provided a description. To the right of the picture, there was a handful of icons.

Annoyance broke out on her face. This thing didn't come with a manual. Bayleef's ball shaking then got her attention, and she moved wordlessly to release him.

The quadruped inclined his head, studying his human as she fiddled with the device. Her finger kept tapping its screen, which didn't entertain the human girl, so he looked over to the sleeping Entei. For a moment, he heard slight footsteps, something he didn't pay any attention.

The four-legs Pokemon trudged a bit closer to the napping Entei, while the human girl fiddled with the Pokedex.

"I give up," sighed Opal, eyeing the device with open irritation. "How do you work?"

A voice, male and amused, called, "That, I'm sorry to say, I don't have an answer for. I also don't know why there's a kid in my backyard, but maybe you can answer that one."

As he spoke, Opal almost jumped, and looked towards the front porch.  
"Sorry," added the brown-haired man. "Didn't mean to scare ya there."

The girl's expression morphed into an uncertain frown. "Well, I'm just the kid - the Pokedex holder, that Professor Crystal sent to check in about the Flareon," she pointed to the napping Entei that Bayleef was studying up close. "That it?"

"Yeah," affirmed Samuel, raising his hand to his neck. "If there's anything I can tell you to help with," she seemed so young, but he supposed the kid wouldn't be here if she couldn't pull this gig, "you can go ahead and ask."

Relief washed over Opal. "Okay, do you know how this Flareon evolved?"

"Evolutionary stones, that sort of thing?" asked Sammy. She confirmed it, with a happy hum. "Sorry, but no luck. He just went off two weeks ago and vanished, and looked like that when he came back."

She responded with a shrug of her shoulders, mentally settling her plan.

After recalling Bayleef, she said, "Thanks for having us, but I'm gonna go and do stuff," when she had said it, it occurred to her that it sounded stupid to say. "I mean," she hastily added, "I mean, I'm gonna call the professor from a computer and ask some stuff," she began an energetic trot. Sam smirked and scoffed, spinning and heading back to the bedroom while Opal walked through the house again.

Close to twenty minutes passed as she went on the familiar jaunt towards her destination, uneventfully along the port-side street and through the entrance gate. The Battle Frontier of Johto now unfolded before her in all its sleek colorful splendor, almost abuzz with the ambient noises of people... which she gave nothing of a hoot about.

Glass doors slid aside, and she walked into the castle.

"Hey, kiddo," called a female voice. Down by the foot of the staircase, a brunette worker greeted her with a raised hand while the girl trudged down. "Look, we're pretty swamped, so unless you're in a hurry, you might wanna come back tomorrow."

"I promise I'll be quick," answered Opal, returning the gesture as she made her way down the last bit of stairs and past the attendant. Tina shrugged indifferently, figuring that her job wasn't on the line, and kept mum as she went past her and the half-dozen dozen people around here.

Now through, the girl strode up the staircase, familiar sounds ringing out to her already from up ahead. Once she'd reached the top, a standoff caught her eyes through the doorway into the arena.

On the far left side, she saw a dark and legless figure float, his fists balled as he watched his foe. At the room's center stood a quadrupedal creature made mostly of dark-blue stone that shot the ghost-type a glare. By the entrance, a trainer, and at the back of the hall, she saw him. A smirk graced his face, and his arms were folded.

"Beat them, Dad," the preteen whispered.

Surprise flashed on Emerald's face when he noticed her, turning into momentary unease.

"Dusknoir, finish this," commanded the Frontier Brain, a smirk on his face. "Punch it!"

The ghost lunged for the Gigalith, fist-first, and slammed it right in the kisser. Dusknoir moved back, cautiously watching the stone-beast. Gigalith looked well and truly toasted, remaining standing just for a moment.

Mixed frustration and worry showed on Jack's face as he saw his friend collapse, and he recalled the beaten Pokemon, walking away in a silent huff as Opal stepped into the room. Father and daughter greeted each-other with a fist-bump.

"Does anything bring you here, or is this visit just for fun?" inquired the blond.

Mild miffedness manifested on her face. "You've been out for over a week, and I wanted to see you, sue me."

"Sorry," said Emerald, softly. "We've just been busy here. Crystal and I have already talked, and hopefully I'll be home this week."

The irritation washed right off. "Thank you," the girl said, enthusiastically repeating it a few times, and leaping into a flying bear-hug. Being only milder taller than the kid, five foot four to her five, he kept his footing only with some effort.

"By the way, I kinda need to borrow the computer," said Opal, "give Mom an update."

Emerald withdrew from the hug. "Go on," he said.

Giving a nod, Opal began to walk, making her way into the back room. Emerald followed.

Around them was now a moderate-sized room. A brown leather-wrapped couch and table were left of the room's center, and up in the ceiling was a pentagonal lamp. Two doors, one in the wall at the back and one to the left-side end of the room. On the wall behind the couch hung a picture of Crystal, Emerald and an Opal who couldn't be more than four, together outside their house.

The two saw all of that as they entered, but neither one stopped to focus on any of it. The girl headed straight for the laptop lying on the couch, and eagerly held it to her pops.

With a silent-laugh smile, he accepted it, sat down and opened it, and typed the password in. Opal sat herself down, eagerly watching. Emerald clicked for the live-chat program, and moved the PC over to the table.

Over in Violet, in her lab, Crystal was paused amid reading the file about Hoenn species by the familiar sound of the live-chat program, and clicked on it. Through the screen, she observed them.

"What do you have?" voiced Crys, tone level despite her smile, hoping it didn't come off too harsh.

"Good news," answered Opal, her face bright. "I checked things out, and Flareon's evolved into something the Pokedex says is called Entei."

"Really?" spoke Crystal. Surprise showed on Emerald's face, and he decided against speaking.

Her expression turned pensive, and eventually she said, "That's actually not that surprising. I've heard of a posited connection between the three first Eevee evolutions and Johto's myth-Pokemon in the scientific community, and if we can figure out a way to replicate and document Flareon's evolution, then we'd have the means to finally prove that," the dark-haired woman turned her head to look at Opal. "Did you find out anything about how the evolution happens?"

Opal deflated. "Sorry."

"It's fine, Opal," assured Crystal, with a smile.

Emerald raised his hand to his chin, looking pensive. "This kind-of raises a question, though. If this actually means that Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon respectively evolve to the Phantom Beasts, then what does it imply for the other Pokemon that an Eevee can evolve to? Do they all have corresponding forms to take, or are they special, and how does that fit with their legend?"

Opal smiled a I-have-no-idea-how-to-answer-that smile, giving a shrug of her shoulders.

"That's definitely something you should look into, if you can," Crystal informed her.

"He said that Entei just dropped back one day, that's all," disclosed Opal. "Also, I'm kinda thinking about going over to Cherrygrove next."

Crystal made an indifferent scoff. Emerald looked somewhat concerned, noting the time on the laptop.

"You can do it tomorrow," the Frontier Brain informed the kid, his tone brooking no argument.


	3. Lovecraftian Leviathans and Local Lakes

_June 15, 2024 / Johto, Battle Frontier, Battle Castle_

Opal exhaled with relief as she stepped outside, stretching her arms over her head. Bayleef leisurely trudged behind, admiring the sight of the sunlit park; in particular, the shimmering water had caught his eye.

It was in a moment that she heard her father's voice, "Wait a moment," call out to her. She spun, and the plant creature... didn't really care about anything but the water that he so longed to nap in.

As Emerald emerged from the building, Opal noted something almost a smile on his face and a Pokeball in his hand. Sneaking a peek at them, Bayleef began to stroll off, making a conscious effort to go unheard.

"Here," said Emerald, and held the ball out to her. The girl could see his Dragonite through the glass, and frowned at her father.

"I don't want a babysitter," said the girl, resolutely. Bayleef inspected the staircase, cautiously stepping forward.

"He's not one," answered Emerald, softly. "I want you to take Dragonite along as transport because I don't want us to have to worry about you getting lost somewhere while walking around Johto and Kanto," her expression softened, balled fists relaxing. Momentarily hesitant, she took the ball.

Emerald mentally breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, he thought he would have to play the 'I am your father' card. A question occurred to him.

"What's Bayleef doing?" asked the man, glancing with amusement at the second-stage.

Opal tilted her head rightward, to the grass-type who was half-way down the stairs.

Hearing that he was busted, Bayleef decided to throw caution to the wind, and ran, leaping off the side of the intersection.

* * *

_June 15, 2024 / Violet City, Johto_

Hoping for better luck this time, Opal rapped on the door. Receiving no immediate answer, the human child glanced around the sparse streetscape, fixing her gaze on a Swellow and following its departure until it was outta sight.

The door opened in the corner of her eye. In the doorway, a brown-haired boy stood, looking curiously and a little bit miffed at her.

"Whatta you want?" grunted the teen.

"I'm looking for the house where there's a Linoone that evolved," answered the Pokedex Holder, tone as polite as she could manage. "Is this here? If not, do you know where it is?"

His face morphed into a scowl. "How about three houses past get lost? Or maybe, I'm-calling-the-police town?"

A frown set on her face. "I was just asking, chill."

He sighed, loudly. "Dad's gonna kill me if they find out I kicked somebody out on their ass for no reason." He glanced down at her, "You're that Pokedex-trainer that professor chick sent, right?

A grin broke out all over her face. A woman's voice called from inside, "Hey, Thomas, who's at the door?"

Without turning, he shouted, "Think it's the kid with the Pokedex, Mom," back.

There was a bit of silence, before her answer came. "I'll be right there," Opal looked past him, The woman, a tanned brunette, soon came into sight, in the entrance-way.

Roxanne looked quizzically at the girl, deciding against commenting on her age. "He likes to stay in the living room, so if you'd follow me," she gestured for Opal to come inside.

The preteen eagerly complied, following the woman a bit into the corridor and through the first door on the right, taking in the sight of the room and abundant decor.

A bit past the couch, lying down on that there part of the rug, was an animal reminiscent of a way much bigger Eevee, or some big brownie dog. Her gaze went straight for the Pokemon.

"Don't approach without warning," Roxanne told her sternly. Opal flashed a grin. "He's never been good with strangers, and ever since he evolved, he's been the very definition of jumpy, so don't try anything that could get on his bad side."

After considering it for a moment, Opal responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "Well, okay. I think I don't need more than asking you a few questions anyway, and maybe some pictures."

Thomas tilted his head, watching her with mixed surprise and vexation. "You 'think'? You think that's all you need? Is it too late to return you to sender?"

Roxanne turned his way. "Remember your manners. She's a guest here, and a Pokedex owner as well," Thomas gave a dissatisfied grunt. "How you say things matters," reminded the woman.

The girl raised the Pokedex, towards the animal. A click on the camera made the screen change.

"Do you know how Linoone evolved, like with an item like Reaper Cloths or Fire Stones?" inquired Opal of mother and son, without turning from the normal-type.

Roxanne answered, "To an extent. We were out walking a while ago on Route 31, when he found a green glowing ball that made him spontaneously evolve. When the evolution was complete, though, the ball was almost completely dissolved."

Opal shrugged her shoulders. At least they knew, here. "Thank you for telling me. I think this is gonna help," Roxanne smiled at that. With another press against the screen, she ended the recording.

* * *

"So this is where, huh?" asked Opal, as the girl and the grass-type gazed out over the waters, unabashed glee on their faces.

The elder man breathed in the sea breeze, pleased, before answering.

"Quite right. Our pool wasn't big enough for her anymore, you see, so we couldn't do anything but move her out in the sea, you see. She's a big girl, you see. You see?"

Opal did see. This guy really liked that phrase. Her gaze remained set on the still water as she asked, "Can you get her up here? I wanna see her."

The man simply bowed down, took himself a handful of sand, and tossed out at the water. The human girl shifted, face lighting up expectantly. The Bayleef grimaced, unsure of what it was he was sensing, but not liking it.

It took a moment, but it emerged from the water, a red light precipitating that.

The red crystal came into their sight first, then the blue-green ring above its head, then a pair of great wings.

On the other end of the beach, a plain-clothed man sent an Electivire and a Lapras out, unseen by the four.

The third-stage Pokemon looked with curious glee at the two strangers, then looked to her trainer.

"There's nothing to worry about, Tentacthulhu," assured the elder man. "These youngins just want to know more about you, study you a little."

Her eyes flashed figuratively with joy while the jewel did so literally. "Oh, two-legged ones, you never will tire of the sights of me, will you? Well, you need not. Displaying my glory for all is a pleasure beyond words."

A bright-blue beam hit the Bayleef, shocking the three, Opal most. Shouting his name, the girl sprinted to the fallen.

Scowling, she looked towards where the beam had come from, seeing a man in grey clothes walk towards her, an Electivire flanking him and a Lapras on the water.

"This is an outrage!" hollered the elder man, gripping his cane. "What in God's name are you thinking, assassin?!"

Grinning like a loon, the plain-clothes man ignored the elder, looking towards Opal.

"If you want a battle, you've got a funny way of asking," spat the girl. "Who are you?"

"Just a man," responded the assailant, flatly, "who's here to take what's mine, what I deserve," he held his hand out. "Give me the Pokedex."

Her ire morphed into surprise. "What?! It's mine, so no."

"GIVE THE DAMNED THING TO ME," he was screaming at the top of his lungs. "Or, you can die first. I'm good either way."

Her legs felt heavy, the flesh tightening around the bones.  _"He'll kill me?!"_  "W-what di-didd I do?" she stuttered the words out.

The man just laughed a little. The elder man felt a bit unnerved by the sound.

"Fine, I'll paint you a picture," he paused, inhaled. "Sixteen. Years. Opal. For sixteen years I've worked my ass off trying to earn one. I tried asking them for one when there was a need for somebody to travel around and collect data, I did everything the labs needed somebody to do, I fixed all the things about myself that they ever said I had to work on. Do you know what I got for all my hard work?"

She simply looked at him, mouth agape.

"I. Got. Nothing," he accentuated each word. "And y'know, I was okay with that. Sure, it sucked ass, every time, but none of the professors ever privileged one of the assistants over me without a good reason. Then, you," he pointed his finger at her, voice raised, "came, and that was the very last straw."

"Why me?!" asked Opal, bewildered.

"Believe me," sighed the man, "that's a good question. There were eight other applicants than you when professor Crystal solicited a trainer to traverse these parts of the country, each one damn sure more qualified than you, but I bet you never thought about that."

"Cassie Forester, from Unova," he disclosed. "She won the Pokemon League tournament over there four years ago, and been sightseeing and soul-searching around the Five-Star Nation ever since. Gregory Thompson, from Kalos, who beat at least one Gym Leader specializing in each of the eighteen types across the country in only one year's time. Suzie Danialle, from Unova, a child prodigy who faced Black himself in last year's tournament."

Opal looked glumly down, hot tears pressing at her eyes.

"The only reason you got the Pokedex instead of any of us is because of goddamn nepotism," shouted the man. "What did you ever do that compares to their deeds?! Huh?"

"That's enough!" shouted the elder man. "I don't care what problems you have with these researchers, but none of it justifies you attacking innocent children," more calmly, though no less forcefully, he said, "you're going to leave, right now. Your only choice is whether you leave dead or alive," shooting him a glare.

Unanticipated by the two men, a third voice called out, "Hands in the air."

They looked to the older man's right, seeing a young-man police offer there, gun trained on the younger man

"Don't make any funny moves, don't give your Pokemon any commands," instructed the police officer, gun-holding hand as calm as his voice was. "I've heard everything that has been said, and I'm going to have to ask that you refrain from antagonizing these people any further."

Opal breathed unsteadily, her stomach feeling like it was going to turn inside out.  _"What did I do?!"_  the girl frantically thought, a tremble wracking her. _"Why is this happening to me?!"_ she told herself she wasn't gonna cry, repeating that mantra wordlessly, even after the first few tears had streaked down her face.

The elder man looked plaintively at Opal. "It's alright, child, you can leave. This troublemaker won't lay a finger on you."


	4. Home - Coming and Going

Opal closed the door behind her, then took her shoes off.

Ahead of her, there was a hallway. It wasn't particularly big, you couldn't fit an elephant or a Tyranitar through here, but it was big easy to snugly fit a human. A few pictures littered the walls, and a carpet covered much of the floor from end to end.

A bit ahead and on the left side was a closed door, and a bit further an open door. Through that one, one could see a fair lot of the living room, and on the sofa, a red-haired boy frowning attentively, his bag of chips and the movie almost forgotten.

At the end of the hallway, there was a staircase that the girl quietly walked towards. She absently observed him raising her hand in greeting to her.

"S'up, Opal," Willis grinned. "Back already? Thought the Pokedex thing was gonna take ya a while."

"Whatever," answered Opal, and walked away.

Concern filled Willis' eyes. He knew that mood of hers all too well. He broke into a sprint, out to the hallway, where Opal was barely a step up the stairs.

"What happened?" he was quick to ask.

Opal didn't turn around. "Nothing," she could practically feel the skepticism in the way he had to be looking at her.

Willis thought for a moment about what would be a good comeback. "Okay, and now tell me again like I'm not an idiot. What happened?"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" she hollered, running up the stairs.

"Nothing to worry about, I guess," Willis thought wryly. He soon heard the sound of her bedroom door slamming. "Maybe I should call Dad or Mom," he decided, not if he didn't have to.

Quickly getting upstairs, he stopped by the second door on the left, tapping two fingers against it. The ginger watched expectantly. Nothing happened for a minute. Then Opal shouted for him to go away.

"No can do," returned Willis. "Even if I didn't want to, which I do, I have to look out for my sis," he was met with bitter silence.

"Okay," said Opal, finally, and opened the door.

Willis grinned. "Let's get downstairs. I have a bag of snacks with our names on it."

She didn't look particularly in better spirits. "I'm good right here."

His smile didn't dim. "Bringin' 'em, it is."

From down-stairs, a familiar voice called out, "I've got them."

Willis stared quizzically towards the stairs, kinda like they had stolen his lower intestine. Opal mirrored his expression.

"Mom?" she said, eventually. Hurrying downstairs, she stopped at the doorway into the living room, where she saw Crystal by the couch. She was informally garbed, a red shirt without sleeves and a pair of brown-green cargo pants, black hair set in

The woman met the girl's gaze, a half-full bag of potato chips in her hand.

"I heard what happened, Opal," Crystal spoke, worry filling her eyes. "The officer in Cherrygrove told me, and Thomas isn't going to bother you ever again. How are you holding up?"

She wished she knew. "I'm okay, I guess."

Willis scoffed aloud. Opal glanced down. Crystal smiled wistfully.

"How about you come over here and sit with us for a bit?" Crystal suggested. "You can vent about how okay you are, and munch down on these," she held up the snack-bag.

Opal looked up, appreciatively, at the bag of snacks. Crystal returned a smile, then felt dismayed when the girl's expression lost its glee. Opal sighed.

"Mom, Willis, I'm grateful that you guys want to help me, but I'm okay, I mean it," said Opal, sternly.

"Opal, sweetie, he said he wanted to kill you, didn't he?" Crystal asked. Willis went wide-eyed, and looked worriedly at her. "I'm not going to think any less of you if you do feel upset about that. Attempted murder is a hell of a lot to cope with."

Returning a grin, Opal went over to her and took the snack bag, then sat down.

"Really, Mom, I'm okay," she asserted, and picked a few chips up. "The only thing bugging me right that you're not listening to me."

Crystal smiled, and sat down beside her. "Sorry, but worrying is just part of being a parent."

Opal stuffed a few more chips in her mouth.

"I guess," a frown settled on her face. "There's something I want to ask," she breathed in, then sighed. "He said that a lot of other people had volunteered to do this field study thing. Is that true?"

"Yes," Crystal answered without missing a beat, while Willis walked behind them. Confusion filled her eyes at the bewildered look on Opal's face.

"But, why?" she questioned. "You can't seriously really think I'm better than a Champion?!"

"Better than a Champion?" parroted Crystal. Willis looked at Opal, suspecting to know what was going on. "Opal, who exactly did he tell you had applied, because all I got were kids around town and a woman who lives out in Cianwood."

"Oh," Opal murmured. A grin broke out on her face. "Now that I think about it, God, that was stupid of me."

"What," remarked Willis, voice dripping with irony, "you mean trusting what a guy said while he was trying to kill you? No, no, that wasn't stupid. You should totally do it again, only next time, try it with a drunk guy who just walked out of a bar."

Crystal laughed. Opal rolled her eyes, taking another chip.

"Besides," Opal said eventually, "even if I was scared, I have to finish this."

Crystal frowned. Opal tensed at the look she gave her, nearly gulping. Willis glanced her way.

Opal, maybe I'm reading too much into things - but do you feel obligated to collect data for the Pokedex?"

Opal looked away, lips tightly pursed.

"Back at the lab, you said you weren't going to let me down," Crystal reminded, "and now you said 'have to', not 'want to'. I'll like to know where you got that idea."

"Is this because of that girl at school?" Willis inquired. Renewed worry rose up on her face.

"What girl?" Crystal's tone brooked no discussion - he was to spill, immediately.

"Just some random girl," Willis said, matter-of-factly. "She tried to mess with me, called me a charity case and everything."

Opal looked a wee bit horrified. Crystal regarded him with worry.

"Chill, it worked out. We had a battle, and we kicked their asses in front of the whole school, and she hasn't tried any crap with me since," Willis said, grinning at the memory.

The worry in Crystal's eyes faded, and a soft smile grew on her face. "That's good to hear, Willis."

She looked to Opal, smile dimming.

"It doesn't have anything to do with that, Mom," she asserted. "It's just," her voice trailed off, and she remained silent for a little bit. "I've been looking you guys up, and you were so freakin' cool," she excitedly said, grinning.

"You saved the world, from the guy who wanted to flood everything and from that meteor and you crushed Team Rocket too!" Opal eagerly recounted, rushing through the words. "You and Gold and Silver beat up Sinnoh's gods and you personally caught almost all species of Pokemon in the world and you got those cool titles and special moves or ultimate attacks or whatever they're called."

Crystal's cheeks tinged with pink. Willis looked, awed, at their mother. He knew most of that already, but...

"So then I started thinking, you did all that back when you were my age, and you got your Pokedexes from that Oak guy when you and Dad were my age," Opal continued. "It just makes sense that I'm supposed to do this too, doesn't it?"

Willis rolled his eyes. He couldn't say what, but something about that sounded really stupid.

Crystal frowned again. "No, Opal, it doesn't, and if that's what you think, I'll prefer to take the Pokedex back," she held her hand out.

Opal returned an anxious look. Concern filled Willis's eyes. Crystal's expression didn't change.

"Opal, the first seven of us earned the Pokedices that we got with our personal strengths," Crystal said.

Curiosity rose up in his eyes - "Is that really the plural of Pokedex?".

She knew that, knew them all - catching, training, battling, exchanging, hatching, evolving, healing.

"If you really want to be like us, you can't just imitate everything that we did, back when we were helping out with the field studies."

Opal rolled her eyes, "I know, Mom, 'be yourself' and crap and crap," and reached for another snack.

Crystal smiled, lowering her hand. "I know it's the oldest cliche in the book, but it is for a reason," Opal took another chip in, savoring the taste as she munched down on it.

Eventually, she asked, "Mom? Would you mind if I took Cyndaquil and Totodile too? I think me and Bayleef would have more fun if they came along with us."

A near-inaudible sigh escaped Crystal. It was at least a step in the right direction. "Of course not, Opal."

"I kinda get it," Willis said. Crystal looked to him. "I mean, you guys literally gave her a fancy jewel name like your own. How's Op's not supposed to think she's your successor or whatever?"

Opal immediately turned smug, vaguely questioning as well. Crystal could understand that - it was hard to not think that was hypocrisy.

"We named you after your birthstone because Emerald was named after his," Crystal replied, tone as stern as her expression, "but even though we have things in common, you still are not us, Opal," not answering, the girl reached into the bag, annoyance coming over her.

Inspecting it, she found it empty. "Great."

A short while later - after Opal had picked up a drawstring bag from her room, and gone with her over to the lab - Crystal was holding the Pokeballs out to Opal, who eagerly took them. With a smile on her face, she met their eyes. Totodile looked eagerly back. Cyndaquil looked wary.

"You wanna come with us?" she asked. Totodile nodded vigorously. Cyndaquil looked past her, to Bayleef, Opal saying, "It'll be fun, Cyndaquil, I promise."

Briefly mulling it over - both the promise of fun, and the chance to hone his powers, appealed - he gave a nod.

"Sweetness," Opal cheered, smile growing beaming. The sight pleased and reassured Crys.


End file.
